“This is Alan Freed . . . and this is rock’n’roll.”
With these words, the young hearts of New York beat fast as the celebrated radio disc jockey unleashes the popular sounds of the late 1950s.
This biographical drama tells the story of Freed – the man credited with introducing white American teenagers to the sounds that their parents considered the Devil’s music.
With Tim McIntire solid enough as “the Pied Piper of Rock’n’Roll”, this pleasing pop picture makes a fair fist of re-creating the era when clean-cut kids became rebels whose only cause was twisting the night away.
You can forgive director Floyd Mutrux for calling on the services of Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis, but, while their music might be timeless, they are not, and their obvious age and over-polished performances detract from the aura of authenticity.
Alan Freed
Tim McIntire
Sheryl
Fran Drescher
Mookie
Jay Leno
Teenage Louise
Laraine Newman
Lennie Richfield
Jeff Altman
Artie Moress
Moosie Drier
District Attorney Coleman
John Lehne
Stone
Stewart Steinberg
Phillips
Jack Edward Ellis
Donahue
Richard Forbes
Director
Floyd Mutrux
